Underachieved or Overrated?

[Quint]

Blocking out the noise, it's time to be honest with ourselves. Seriously, let's think about it:

Are the Cowboys really that good, stats aside? The Eye Test:

- Was this defense dominant at any time, or did they just have good stretches when they got turnovers in bunches?
- Was the pass rush ever truly dominant as all the pundits seem to say? They had a few stretches when the pass rush was impressive, but in November and December, how often did the Dee Line simply take over the game?
- Yes, the offense was impressive, at times, but just because Dak lead the league in TDs doesn't mean this offense was good all season, right?

Did the pundits and fans overrate this team (which I think happens often for Cowboys teams)?

Or were the players actually very good, and they just underachieved?

Or could both be true?

And for the coaches too:

Did McCarthy underachieve with this offensive roster?

Did Quinn underachieve this with this defensive roster?

The Scientist by Coldplay

 

[SoBlue128]

Both with a bit of self sniffing hence the 4 blowouts two to inferior opponents

 

[CowboysLegends2]

The atmosphere of the organization will make all the teams overrated. The organization now lives on hype based on the achievements of legendary teams of the past. A marketing dream but the culture is not based around anything solid. Glitz and glamor from the prime time games to the media coverage. That’s not taking away from the talent of the individual players but winning is a luxury, not a driving force.

Demarcus Ware is one of the best examples. He had a hall of fame career before going to Denver where he finally got a ring.

This is the second year I can remember when there was an emphasis made on what nickname to give the defense. It’s not like they accomplished anything spectacular as a unit. They were gifted the crown then lived the life before earning it.

Today is the perfect example of heart vs hype. The players seem to get an entitled attitude where they look and act like the Packers are going to lay down to the mighty Dallas Cowboys. Instead they beat the snot out of the Cowboys and wipe their feet on the carpet on their way out. They will now have the media slobbering all over them for beating a team who shouldn’t have been the second seed to begin with. All that time Cowboy fans will believe they got humiliated by a league leader. After all that is over the 49ers will walk over them and we will start making excuses for why this happened and why next season will be different.

The point is Dallas has individual great players but the environment has become such a circus that no group of individuals will have the collective hunger that it takes to win anything meaningful. The closest analogy I can personally think of is in the movie Rocky III when he got so rich and comfortable that he could no longer compete with solid contenders and got smashed by a real fighter. We as a fan base see it over and over but as soon as we beat down a dysfunctional Washington or any other bottom feeding team, we puff out our chests and convince ourselves that this time it’s different and now it’s for real.

Not sure what the excuse will be next season for a new hope but I’m sure Jerry has a Belichick or another magic trick up his marketing sleeve. Selling illusions is our GM’s true gift.

Overrated until proven otherwise.

 

[Bobhaze]

For everyone saying the regular season was good- regular season success without playoff success is a participation trophy. Pretty empty.

 

[jay94]

Overrated and underachieved.